Family of four safe after ordeal at sea

A family of four on holiday in Cyprus were rescued on Tuesday evening after being found in the sea off Oroklini unable to reach the shore due to high winds, police said on Wednesday.

Marine police officers, after being alerted at around 7.50pm on Tuesday of swimmers at risk of drowning, rushed to the area where they found a man with his eight-year-old daughter on a surfboard around a kilometre from the shore. They were both suffering from hypothermia due to the very strong winds and had been in the water for several hours.

Some 500 metres away, they also located the man’s wife with their five-year-old daughter holding onto a small inflatable boat, in a state of panic and hypothermia.

The officers brought the family to shore, where they gave them first aid. All four are now in good health, police said.